Homonyms

Lately in my proofreading and editing, I've seen quite a few uses of homonyms where the author chose the wrong word, completely changing the meaning of the sentence. Even in published books, where the editing process obviously didn't pick up on them.

What is a homonym? Simply stated, homonyms are words that sound alike, but have different spellings and meanings. Two very common ones are your, you're, yore and there, their, they're.

I'll discuss these and others in the next few posts. In the meantime, here's a great Web site for determining which word to use when faced with a homonym: Alan Cooper's All about Homonyms.

I'm still really busy this week, so blogging here will be sporadic again. Hopefully it will settle down by the end of the week.

Daily Bible reading: Tuesday, March 18—Job 32–33; 1 Corinthians 11:1–16
Wednesday, March 19—Job 34–35; 1 Corinthians 11:17–34
Thursday, March 20—Job 36–37; 1 Corinthians 12
Friday, March 21—Job 38–40; 1 Corinthians 13
Saturday, March 22—Job 41–42; 1 Corinthians 14:1–20
Sunday, March 23—Proverbs 1–2; 1 Corinthians 14:21–40
Monday, March 24—Proverbs 3–5; 1 Corinthians 15:1–28